LBCC plans for employee layoffs, significant cuts to staff

LONG BEACH - Long Beach City College is planning to lay off 55 employees and reduce contracts for 96 positions in an effort to cut $5.1million from its budget, officials announced Wednesday.

LBCC President Eloy Oakley said the cuts are necessary to offset years of declining state revenue. The layoffs will include classified and management staff and will not affect faculty at this time, he said.

In a phone interview on Wednesday, Oakley said the decision for layoffs has been "gut-wrenching."

"It's been a terrible process because we very much value all of our employees who give so much of their lives," he said. "The state of California has made a decision to defund our colleges, and it doesn't leave us much choice. We've tried to get by in the last three years with the hopes that the state would turn itself around, but that hasn't happened."

The layoffs and reductions require approval from the Board of Trustees. The board will consider the matter at its regular meeting on April 24.

Proposed cuts to classified staff include eliminating 43 positions and reducing an additional 96 positions from 12-month to 11- or 10-month contracts. Classified staff are employees who are not required to hold teaching credentials, such as secretaries, custodians, maintenance workers and instructional aids.

Oakley said many of the 96 positions will include instructional aides, whose contracts will be scaled back due to cuts in the number of courses offered in the summer and winter sessions.

This year, LBCC will offer a brief, six-week summer session for 750 students - about 25 percent less than what the college offered three years ago, Oakley said.

Management staff will also be reduced by 12 positions.

The 55 total layoffs amount to about 10 percent of the college's staff.

LBCC this year saw an unanticipated loss of $3.5 million in mid-year state funding cuts. That came on top of a $7.2 million loss in revenue over the past three years. Overall, the college has seen a 7.4 percent reduction in state funding.

Oakley said LBCC is preparing to permanently reduce expenditures by at least $5 million for the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

The college could see an additional loss of $4.8 million in funding if Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed November tax initiative fails to pass, he added. In that worse-case scenario, LBCC will face an additional $4 million to $5 million in cuts in January.

Reductions in staffing are necessary to help balance the college's budget, Oakley said, noting that 87 percent of the budget consists of employee salaries and benefits.

Even with the planned $5.1 million reduction, the college is still facing a $7 million deficit from its $150 million general fund, he added.

"The ($5.1 million) doesn't completely close the gap, but it will help us go forward," he said.

Oakley said LBCC will continue to prepare for additional difficult budgetary choices over the remainder of the year.